• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

You cannot shame the shameless.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

In my day, never was longer.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Books are my comfort food!

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Because We Didn’t Invade Iran, Saudia Arabia Was Forced to Invade Bahrain

Because We Didn’t Invade Iran, Saudia Arabia Was Forced to Invade Bahrain

by John Cole|  March 15, 20113:51 pm| 94 Comments

This post is in: Clown Shoes

FacebookTweetEmail

I admit to not giving my full attention to matters in the Middle East, but does this make sense to anyone:

“Yesterday, because of the failure of President Obama to confront Iran’s hegemony and expansion of its radical Islamic sphere of power in the Middle East, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, in conjunction with his Arab Gulf Cooperation Council partners, invaded Bahrain to head off an overthrow of its government by extremist Shiites loyal to the radical mullahs in Tehran. This act by King Abdullah, whose kingdom has been at loggerheads with Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over their betrayal of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, and their weakness in confronting and to the contrary appeasing Iran, underscores how even Arab rulers have lost any faith in the American president, and do not respect him.

Ironically, Obama and Clinton have also seriously alienated Israel, another strong ally of the United States, and their actions will likely cause Israel and Saudi Arabia to take matters into their own hands to eliminate the Iranian threat. The Saudis invasion of Bahrain is the first sign that they consider Obama and Clinton to be in effect enemies of their countries’ interests.

Freedom Watch applauds the actions of the Saudis. It’s time to not only stop the hegemony of the mullahs in Tehran, but also to take strong action to remove them from power. The world cannot leave in power a radical neo-Nazi Islamic regime, bent on not only destroying Israel, but pursuing a radical Shiite Islamic revolution worldwide. Sadly, and dangerously, thanks to Obama and Clinton, the Iranian regime has been succeeding, so much so that the Saudis now saw an urgency to step in to do the job the United States should have done long ago by stopping Iran in its tracks.”

A decade ago, I am willing to bet Klayman was with wingnuts like me, screaming about Saudi Arabia in the wake of 9/11.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « I Must Be Getting Old
Next Post: Comments Problem »

Reader Interactions

94Comments

  1. 1.

    Mike (Hammer) Kay

    March 15, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    Larry Klayman is a condo saleman.

    I breathlessly await the foreign policy analysis of condo salesmen, right after I get my stock market report from the Hobos at my train station.

  2. 2.

    Chyron HR

    March 15, 2011 at 3:55 pm

    Arab rulers have lost any faith in the American president, and do not respect him.

    Does that mean he’s no longer the secret ruler of all the Muslin Muslix Muslims?

  3. 3.

    Mark S.

    March 15, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    For a second there I thought this was Freedom House and I would have had a sad. But no, this is some guy who writes for WorldNutDaily and I guess is a one man tea party.

    Saudi Arabia and Israel are forming an alliance to take out Iran? It must be true, since I read it on the Internet.

  4. 4.

    MikeJ

    March 15, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    Ironically, Obama and Clinton have also seriously alienated Israel, another strong ally of the United States, and their actions will likely cause Israel and Saudi Arabia to take matters into their own hands to eliminate the Iranian threat.

    How is this a problem for the US unless you just really want to in on the fun of killing a bunch of people?

  5. 5.

    Social Outcast

    March 15, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    So the complaint is that Obama and Clinton aren’t concerned with protecting Saudi Arabia’s interests. When did that become the U.S. president’s job?

  6. 6.

    catclub

    March 15, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    “the Middle East, but does this make sense to anyone?”

    Crazy people. SATSQ

  7. 7.

    Ash Can

    March 15, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    I’ll take “People Who Have No Fucking Clue What They’re Talking About” for $500, Alex.

  8. 8.

    beltane

    March 15, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    So now they’re bedwetting over a radical Shiite agenda instead of the more general radical Islamist agenda because the Sunni Wahabis loves them some freedumbs. Makes sense to me in the sense that it makes no sense at all.

  9. 9.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    March 15, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    It makes a lot of sense:
    1. Something new to blame on Obama.
    2. Can’t have the majority population – Shia in Bahrain – running the country. Must use force to keep them suppressed (see Wisconsin and Ohio).
    3. Oh no, we can’t have Israel working with a Muslim country: How could we talk bad about Muslims if they start helping Jews.
    4. And “neo-Nazi Islamic regimes” are bad. Only neo-Nazi Christian regimes are good.

  10. 10.

    GregB

    March 15, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    The Saudis will invade Iran as soon as Canada invades Jamaica.

    Plus, if they want to really destabilize their Kingdom and bring on collapse they should openly collude with Israel to attack a Muslim nation.

    Brilliant.

    Fuck these neo-con warmongers.

  11. 11.

    Pococurante

    March 15, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Why are you pointing us to a one man tea party website. Blogistan is full of these self-proclaimed geniuses crackpots that curry favor on the lecture circuit.

  12. 12.

    Mike (Hammer) Kay

    March 15, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Ah crap.

    This is terrible.

    Gilbert Gottfried just caved and apologized for his Tsunami jokes.

    Gawd. When did we become so humorless. I remember when the Space Shuttle blew up, and by noon time, everyone was joking NASA stood for “need another seven astronauts”.

  13. 13.

    mikefromArlington

    March 15, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    It’s about damn time the U.S. let the rest of the countries deal with their regional problems on their own.

    Only mindless partisans on the right are pro intervention at every opportunity. I’m not even sure $$$ to defense contractors is a driving force any longer.

    I think it all has to do with who has the biggest 8=========>.

  14. 14.

    beltane

    March 15, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    @Social Outcast: The USA is apparently here to serve the interests of the Saudi royal family and the Israeli Likud party just like it says in the Bible and the Constitution. Why do you hate America you hater?

  15. 15.

    Tsulagi

    March 15, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    but does this make sense to anyone

    No. SATSQ and all that.

    Those three Freedom Watch paragraphs are nothing but air. Some get off on the smell of their own farts.

  16. 16.

    Bill in Chicago

    March 15, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    Freedom Watch applauds the actions of the Saudis.

    Indeed:

    http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com

    Without them, there would be no War on Terror.

  17. 17.

    stuckinred

    March 15, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    Buncha people over at Pat Lang’s joynt want us in Libya now!

  18. 18.

    Rock

    March 15, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    OK, so imagine that I buy the premise that the “Iranian threat needs to be eliminated” (which I don’t). Wouldn’t the steely-eyed Realpolitik warrior this guy wants to be think it would be better to have other people expend blood and treasure to do so? The answer is yes. I think this essay is a failure even within the world in which it’s flawed assumptions are true.

  19. 19.

    Sentient Puddle

    March 15, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    All I really caught was this:

    The world cannot leave in power a radical neo-Nazi Islamic regime

    Godwined himself.

  20. 20.

    Mike (Hammer) Kay

    March 15, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    @stuckinred: how does pat feel about that?

  21. 21.

    me

    March 15, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    Were the Baharinis throwing flowers at the feet of the Saudi Army? I can’t wait for Prince Abdullah’s “المهمة أنجزت” banner.

  22. 22.

    Comrade Javamanphil

    March 15, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    The Saudis invasion of Bahrain is the first sign that they consider Obama and Clinton to be in effect enemies of their countries’ interests.

    Freedom Watch applauds the actions of the Saudis.

    Help me out here. As near as I can tell, the only logical conclusion that can be drawn by these two statements is that Freedom Watch is a traitor (in the academic sense, not speaking in hyperbole here.) Somebody want to correct me on this?

  23. 23.

    Dave

    March 15, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    It only makes sense if the Bahraini Shia majority are actually extremist. Which they aren’t. So yes, this makes no sense.

    Also, does this mean that Freedom Watch supports Wahabbism, the driving religious/ideological basis for the 9/11 terrorists?

  24. 24.

    Elia

    March 15, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    Not that it should matter at all in terms of the validity/weight of this statement but, I’m Jewish aaaaannnd:

    Calling Iran a “neo-Nazi Islamic regime” (never mind how actually nonsensical these words are when put together) is so offensive to anyone with a modicum of awareness or appreciation of just how fucked up the Nazis were.

    These people are so fucked.

  25. 25.

    stuckinred

    March 15, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    @Mike (Hammer) Kay: It’s turning into a wall-to-wall bashing over there. Gutless prez, dod, military and the fucking American public.

  26. 26.

    piratedan

    March 15, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    well hell, the AOS controlls the Congress, why don’t they just throw this into the budget bill then, we won’t raise the debt ceiling until the Merikan USA is out there defending freedom in another Middle East war of dubious returns else we’ll dismantle the welfare state and trash Social Security.

  27. 27.

    Amir_Khalid

    March 15, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    This guy Klayman says Saudi Arabia “invaded” Bahrain. Unless sending troops into Bahrain at their own King’s request counts as invading, Klayman is either wrong on this or lying.

    Plus, all Arab rulers know that the no. 1 Middle East priority for the US is supporting Israel; that’s just the way American national politics works. That knowledge keeps them from putting all that much faith in any POTUS to begin with, whatever the state of their relations with the US.

  28. 28.

    New Yorker

    March 15, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    Teh crazy, it burns.

    Freedom Watch applauds the actions of the Saudis.

    An organization named “Freedom Watch” is applauding the actions of a repressive theocratic monarchy in aggressively invading a sovereign nation. That earthquake they’re feeling in the UK is from George Orwell violently spinning in his grave.

    The world cannot leave in power a radical neo-Nazi Islamic regime, bent on not only destroying Israel, but pursuing a radical Shiite Islamic revolution worldwide.

    Yes, let’s take sides in the ancient Islamic feud between Sunni and Shi’a. I mean, it’s not like any Saudis have had a hand in the pursuit of a radical Sunni Islamic revolution worldwide. Osama bin Laden is Iranian, right?

  29. 29.

    cat48

    March 15, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    The GOP is running on US Decline next election so I suppose the oped fits their premise that Obama has caused it because he refuses to lead and be the World’s policemen, as we always have. It is unusual in a way….almost CHANGE! The G8 decided against No FLY Zone for Libya yesterday. Mrs. Greenspan said she doubted the US would do it now…..especially without a Resolution of War from the Congress. The president is doing humanitarian aide only. This disgusts Hawkish GOP and Hawkish Dems. The president FAIL!

  30. 30.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 15, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    Dude sounds like a 15 year old whining about how it is so totally unfair that Dad locked up the liquor cabinet and hid the keys, and right before homecoming weekend too!

  31. 31.

    Rock

    March 15, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    But we can’t invade another country — we’re broke!

    Or does that argument not work in this case?

  32. 32.

    The Moar You Know

    March 15, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    That’s quite a word salad they’ve cooked up there. I read it three times and it still makes no sense whatsoever, save that I can tell that they don’t like President Obama very much.

    @Mike (Hammer) Kay: Pat does not seem to be terribly in favor of the idea. Not that it matters; as someone above pointed out, his commentariat is going full-metal crazy over there.

  33. 33.

    Tonal Crow

    March 15, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    It is more wingnut hate on Obama, Clinton, and anyone to the left of Sauron. That is all.

  34. 34.

    rea

    March 15, 2011 at 4:20 pm

    My goodness, if Obama really has maneuvered Saudi Arabia and Israel into a military alliance, he’s a diplomatic genius.

  35. 35.

    stuckinred

    March 15, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    Lang’s summary:

    Saudi troops in Bahrein, Salih resolute in Sanaa. Qathafi advancing in Libya.

    This sounds to me as though the “dog whistles’ have sounded in Washington. Stability over all!! Whose whistles are these?

    – Oil companies

    – Israel

    – The Arab despots.

    – State Department gutlessness.

    – US Armed forces unwillingness to do more (read moral illiteracy)-

    – US Civilian unwillingness to do more (read “I’ve been bull shitted too often”)

    You are on your own in Arabia. pl

  36. 36.

    Brachiator

    March 15, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    Please pay attention to this piece of the quote because you are going to see a lot more of it as we get closer to the 2012 elections:

    … whose kingdom has been at loggerheads with Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over their betrayal of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt

    The conventional wisdom, and the strident view of hardliners in the Israeli government, is that the Obama administration is weak and cannot be trusted because it does not keep its word to autocratic dictators in the Middle East. Here, oil, and the current balance of power is more important than anything that people protesting in Egypt and other countries might ever want.

    This is obviously nuts, but this only means that it will become a GOP foreign policy plank.

    … their actions will likely cause Israel and Saudi Arabia to take matters into their own hands to eliminate the Iranian threat.

    If Saudi Arabia and Israel openly worked together to blunt supposed Iranian designs in the the region, this would be the greatest foreign policy breakthrough in decades. Saudi Arabia would be forced to acknowledge that it subsidizes radical Islam only in order to guarantee its own security. And an alliance between the Saudis and the Israelis would instantly invalidate any notion of monolithic Muslim solidarity against Israel or the West. This would also irritate bin Laden no end.

    But no matter how you slice it, the best thing is that the Obama Administration, so far, is not taking the bait to intervene in current rumblings in this part of the Middle East, since it is unclear as to who is playing who, and who might emerge from the turmoil as a leader or power broker. Only someone as foolish as Palin or grandpa McCain would want to jump into this mess.

  37. 37.

    Alex S.

    March 15, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    This is all kinds of crazy there. I wonder where all the Shiites are that would start a worldwide shiite revolution.

  38. 38.

    Mike (Hammer) Kay

    March 15, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    @stuckinred: what were they like before?

    If I recall this correctly, wasn’t Pat’s site taken over by the crazed racist PUMAs of NoQuarter and HillaryIs44.

  39. 39.

    Ash Can

    March 15, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent):

    Can’t have the majority population – Shia in Bahrain – running the country.

    You know who else used force to suppress the Shia majority in his country. But hey, if Freedom Watch is down with that, fine for them. After all, they’re not saying just whose freedom they’re watching, now, are they?

  40. 40.

    Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937

    March 15, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    I want to go on record renouncing Stalin and NOT applauding the actions of the tyrannical, freedom hating Saudis.

  41. 41.

    DP

    March 15, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    Well that is one crazy rant.

    I think the idea is that the government of Baharain (a sunni government of a majority shia country)and the Saudis feels more threatened by the protests because they fear Iran will help fuel shia uprisings in their countries.

    I’m not justifying the above quote, which is uttely incoherent, but that’s the underlying idea, I think.

  42. 42.

    Mike (Hammer) Kay

    March 15, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    A decade ago, I am willing to bet Klayman was with wingnuts like me, screaming about Saudi Arabia in the wake of 9/11. the US is not the policeman of the world.

    /fixed

  43. 43.

    Martin

    March 15, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    Sadly, and dangerously, thanks to Obama and Clinton, the Iranian regime has been succeeding, so much so that the Saudis now saw an urgency to step in to do the job the United States should have done long ago by stopping Iran in its tracks.

    Bahrain has been a puppet state of Saudi Arabia for ages. There was never any doubt that SA would jump in and put down any unrest in the country, just like their wasn’t ever any doubt that SA would step up and offer what was needed when Saddam invaded Kuwait. They don’t tolerate governments they don’t control sitting over oil that they want to control.

    Nobody over there is so stupid as to not understand this. It’s just another episode of ‘what can we twist into some cudgel to bash Obama with?’ Just the tortuous contorting the term ‘neo-Nazi’ is evidence enough of that.

  44. 44.

    catclub

    March 15, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    The Arab league includes nations like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which do have armies. They had a choice: a) invade Bahrain in opposition to (mostly unarmed) citizen demonstrators or b) invade Libya in opposition to madman with tanks and guns and fighter planes. They picked a.

  45. 45.

    Tom

    March 15, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    How is this a problem for the US unless you just really want to in on the fun of killing a bunch of people?

    Ding! Ding! Ding!

    I’d like to see a poll asking Americans if they’d rather Saudi Arabia or the U.S. invade Bahrain.

  46. 46.

    me

    March 15, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    Some dude at reddit is claiming that the Saudis are massacring civilians in Shiite villages.

  47. 47.

    stuckinred

    March 15, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    @Mike (Hammer) Kay: I read it because the dude has spent a good bit of time in the ME and seems to have a pretty good grip on what’s up.

  48. 48.

    slag

    March 15, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    I can’t wait until Obama does decide to invade some foreign country just so the wingnuts can whine about wagging dogs.

  49. 49.

    Phoenician in a time of Romans

    March 15, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    Iran’s hegemony

    I do not think that word means what you think it means.

  50. 50.

    Pococurante

    March 15, 2011 at 4:27 pm

    @Amir_Khalid:

    Plus, all Arab rulers know that the no. 1 Middle East priority for the US is supporting Israel; that’s just the way American national politics works.

    And to think I thought our policy was to prop up dictators all across the Greater Middle East to make sure the oil flows. And to think I thought 56 Arab countries singling out Israel for human rights violations was simply part of the plan to divert attention from their own oppression, double-digit unemployment, and elites looting the profits.

    Thanks for clearing that up for me.

  51. 51.

    PPOG Penguin

    March 15, 2011 at 4:29 pm

    their betrayal of President Hosni Mubarak

    They support Mubarak against the Egyptian people, and call themselves Freedom Watch? Presumably they are watching freedom in the same sense that the US military is watching Bradley Manning.

  52. 52.

    Mike (Hammer) Kay

    March 15, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    @stuckinred: I agree. He’s a good guy.

  53. 53.

    Tonal Crow

    March 15, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    @PPOG Penguin: They’re watching their confederates destroy freedom, hence the name “Freedom Watch”.

  54. 54.

    catclub

    March 15, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    @Pococurante: ” Plus, all Arab rulers know that the no. 1 Middle East priority for the US is supporting Israel; that’s just the way American national politics works.”

    “And to think I thought our policy was to prop up dictators all across the Greater Middle East to make sure the oil flows.”

    Actually it is both. A floor wax _AND_ a dessert topping!

  55. 55.

    daveNYC

    March 15, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    @Ash Can:

    You know who else used force to suppress the Shia majority in his country.

    No joke. A Sunni minority stomping on a Shia majority. There’s no way that could end in tears.

  56. 56.

    Pococurante

    March 15, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    @catclub:

    Actually it is both. A floor wax AND a dessert topping!

    And just look at that shine! But will it last?

  57. 57.

    catclub

    March 15, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    The Wikileaks on Middle east diplomacy, in which various Arab nations privately were willing to have the US take care of their problems with Iran, but were not willing to say so publicly, or to publicly commit their own resources to such an effort
    (both wise in my view), have been conveniently forgotten.

  58. 58.

    Tonal Crow

    March 15, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    @daveNYC:

    @Ash Can: You know who else used force to suppress the Shia majority in his country.

    No joke. A Sunni minority stomping on a Shia majority. There’s no way that could end in tears.

    And that is why the ultra-liberals, the ACLU, and the fraudulent “climate scientists” were 100% wrong to force George W. Bush to invade Iraq.

    /wingnut

  59. 59.

    Citizen_X

    March 15, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    @PPOG Penguin: They thought it was a tragedy for demonstrators to take down Mubarak, and they’re in favor of any military action against our longtime antagonist Iran. Sooo…are they cheering Khadafy as he kills off his demonstrators, or are they cheering for us to invade Libya to take down our longtime antagonist Khadafy? Decisions, decisions.

  60. 60.

    joe from Lowell

    March 15, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    Muh muh muh, House of Saud, your anus tastes like honey!

    Muh muh muh! Muh!

    For those keeping score at home, the sum total of countries invaded by Iran, the country bent on world domination, remains zero (0) – that is, fewer countries than have been invaded by Saudi Arabia.

  61. 61.

    chopper

    March 15, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    @Bill in Chicago:

    Freedom Watch applauds the actions of the Saudis.

    LOL, that’s just quotable, innit? “we applaud the saudis for invading a neighbor to help put down anti-dictatorship demonstrations”

  62. 62.

    joe from Lowell

    March 15, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    @Citizen_X:

    Sooo…are they cheering Khadafy as he kills off his demonstrators, or are they cheering for us to invade Libya to take down our longtime antagonist Khadafy? Decisions, decisions.

    They’re waiting to see what Obama does, so they can denounce that. Regardless of which way he goes. (Obviously, if you call your organization “Freedom Watch,” define your cause in terms of opposition to Islamic dictatorships, and then laud Saudi Arabia and embrace them as an ally, you’re not operating according to any set of principles).

  63. 63.

    Carl Nyberg

    March 15, 2011 at 4:54 pm

    I suspect the sovereign, anarchic nation-state system is a sham.

    These states really aren’t independent and sovereign in a meaningful way.

    It’s a way for the elites to manage conflict, to fabricate differences for psychological manipulation.

  64. 64.

    Sheldon Cooper

    March 15, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    Pat Lang wants Special Forces to go in Libya and work with the rebels to resist and ultimately oust Qadhafi. He thinks this will be a quicky and easy process based on the quality of Qadhafi’s forces.

    Pat is no neocon but he believes strongly in liberating oppressed peoples, a concept drilled into him from his time as officer with SF. He has written before that he would have supported the Iraq invasion if it had not been based on bogus lies about WMDs but rather on removing Saddam.

  65. 65.

    Barb (formerly Gex)

    March 15, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    @Rock: There’s money for defense contractors and other megacorp citizens. There’s no money for individual citizens. The former is what we do to “create jobs” the latter is the way we keep people “incentivized”. Don’t you know how the best system in the world works?

  66. 66.

    Svensker

    March 15, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    Ironically, Obama and Clinton have also seriously alienated Israel

    Does that mean Bibi’s gonna give all the money back?

  67. 67.

    Shoemaker-Levy 9

    March 15, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    It makes sense if you are in favor of a hot war against Iran. It makes no sense if you call yourself Freedom Watch, in that it advocates for Bahrainis (approx. 2/3 Shia) to live under a Sunni dictatorship. It makes even less sense to call yourself Freedom Watch, advocate for Bahrainis to live in a dictatorship, and implicitly support an invasion by a country that makes Iran look like a democratic paradise. So this statement might make sense if they changed their name to theymaybesonsofbitchesbuttheyareoursonsofbitches.org.

  68. 68.

    Jay C

    March 15, 2011 at 5:06 pm

    Amazing: Klayman managed to lose me just four words in “… the failure of President Obama…“, then totally blew whatever shreds of credibility his rant might have “…confront Iran’s hegemony… just one word later: the whole thing descending into a complete cauldron cesspool of overheated BS “…extremist Shiites loyal to the radical mullahs in Tehran” – all within the first (only moderately-long) sentence!

    Really: who takes this ranting sh*t as any sort of serious analysis of US foreign policy? It’s the same-old, same-old: something gnarly goes down in the Middle east, and the old neocon PNAC gang and/or their enablers fire up the Mighty Wingnut Gibbertronic: shrieking their stale bellicose boilerplate about “Iran” and “mullahs” and raking Obama/Democrats/liberals/anyone-not-them for not somehow magically creating the (their) ideal outcome from some extraordinarily-fnucked-up situation in Arabia – a situation which their favored “solutions” would almost certainly/invariable make worse.

    So of course this ass-backward screed will no doubt be taken by the Very Serious Commentariat as sage wisdom…

  69. 69.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 15, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    Bahrain is a relatively liberal state, too. They don’t have all the Wahhabist bullshit imposed on their citizens, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Saudi invasion changed some of that.

    The Bandit House of Saud is sitting on a powderkeg. They’ve got a demographic problem on their hands…too many young people, many of whom question the Wahhabist ways, which include leaving girls to die in fires because they don’t have their veils, or their adult male relatives aren’t handy to escort them out, or whatever.

    So naturally they jump at the chance to intervene in Bahrain, which is a threat to them anyways, just because women are driving cars there.

  70. 70.

    elmo

    March 15, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    But waidaminnit. I thought the Shiites were the democratic and peaceful ones, and the Sunni were the brutal violent thugs? Glenn Reynolds told me so!

  71. 71.

    Ken J.

    March 15, 2011 at 5:18 pm

    Serious question: when the country currently known as Saudi Arabia has its own political upheavals, and when the ruling family pulls out the heavy weaponry, will the USA (and its conservative factions):

    – decide that People Power stops here, and the USA must support medieval monarchy and the divine right of kingship, and protect the family GWBush likes to hold hands with

    – Recognize that Arabia is the next step after Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, threaten/declare a No Fly Zone and support something that might look like democracy some day?

    One reason not to invest much (military) resources in Libya right now is that the possibility of turbulence in Saudi Arabia really would get to a core American interest, the oil.

    Oh, if you’re curious about why Saudi Arabia sent troops to Bahrain — look at the map. The Saudi forces could drive there. On a causeway. Talk about “sphere of influence…”

  72. 72.

    Suffern ACE

    March 15, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    I have to agree with him. The demonstrators in Iran last year crumbled rather quickly without U.S. support and direct intervention on their behalf. Had we explored military options like McCain said we should, no one would be demonstrating right now in the middle east because they would have no grievances. The demonstators in Iran would have won easily, as the government of Iran would have immediately surrendered to the superior US forces after an amphibious landing and just handed power over to the opposition without firing a shot.

    Invade Iran and all of our other problems go away.

  73. 73.

    srv

    March 15, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    @Mike (Hammer) Kay: Like before when? You mean when Pat was talking about how wonderful a guy Omar Sulieman was (worked with him!) and how caving to all those silly protesters in Tahir could lead to anarchy and cats and dogs living together?

    Or that Obama is cowardly abandoning GW’s FREEDOM agenda (which he snarked on non-stop) and missed a great opportunity to destabilize Libya into a vacuum and let who-the-fuck-knows take over so the Arab world would know we really do lurv and support their freedom and we’d be on the right side of history?

    It’s a real schitzoid crowd over there – Egypt freedom bad, Libya freedom good, mixed with a smattering of realist and conspiracy-laden insight into the politics.

  74. 74.

    Cris

    March 15, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, in conjunction with his Arab Gulf Cooperation Council partners, invaded Bahrain

    I’m not real up on my diplomatic terminology, but does it count as an “invasion” when you were invited?

    Also, too: <3 <3 <3 to commenter "me” for Mission Accomplished.

  75. 75.

    Brachiator

    March 15, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    So naturally they jump at the chance to intervene in Bahrain, which is a threat to them anyways, just because women are driving cars there.

    This is why Steve Jobs wanted the Beatles catalog. Fab Four hits for foreign policy situations: Baby You Can Drive My Car.

  76. 76.

    Zifnab

    March 15, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    Anybody remember this?

    http://middleeast.about.com/od/saudiarabia/a/saudi-arabia-military-aid.htm

    Saudi Arabia plans to spend $50-60 billion upgrading existing weapons systems, improving command and control, and expanding the size, training, and capabilities of the Saudi armed forces. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia still depends on the United States to guarantee its security. Saudi power has been exercised almost exclusively on domestic soil, countering terrorism, suppressing dissidents and, as in most authoritarian Arab regimes, maintaining an iron grip on Saudi society.

    Be a damn shame if all those US built guns and bombs went to waste, amirite?

  77. 77.

    DP

    March 15, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    I think there may be a larger dymanic going on with all the right-wing head exploding that seems to be going on in the wake of the middle east protests. The reaction on the right has been varied, but how can this support for authoritarian regimes be squared with the ususal “freeance and peeance” rhetoric of the right?

    It can’t of course. But a problem for the wingers is that these protests and revolts show something: Muslims, even when living under muslim rule, actually want to be free. They want democracy. They want the internet. They want some semblance of ecomonic justice. Just like everyone else. Murabak did not ge ousted over his failure to impose strict sharia law.

    This does not square with the winger view that all muslims want the whole world to live under a muslim caliphate imposing sharia law. So all these muslims living under the strict islamic law in Saudi Arabia should be happy, right? If it turns out that what muslims actually want is freedom, just like us!, well that kind of blows the whole theory.

  78. 78.

    AAA Bonds

    March 15, 2011 at 5:29 pm

    For what it’s worth, FoxNation (the site you read if you want to actually UNDERSTAND the American right wing) has been flogging the “even foreign leaders don’t think Obama is worth anything” idea for a while now.

    This is just part of that narrative, along with the pro-Saudi neoconservative narrative, and other ones you recognize.

    By the way, the two “allied leaders” who wouldn’t talk to Obama directly in the latest Fox Nation story? Gbagbo in Ivory Coast and some guy named Mubarak in Egypt. Know you’ve never heard of them before. . .

  79. 79.

    Ufficio

    March 15, 2011 at 5:33 pm

    @chopper: Hey, someone’s got to stand up for the freedom of pro-democracy demonstrators to be slaughtered by foreign mercenaries.

  80. 80.

    srv

    March 15, 2011 at 5:36 pm

    Bahrain is just a practice op for when the Shia in KSA start acting up. They just arrested a cleric or two who were calling for reforms.

    And you don’t have to worry about when Abdullah goes. The heirs to the throne all appear to be quite less enlightened than their uncle.

  81. 81.

    Jamie

    March 15, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    I’m dreaming of the day when pundits are held to a not crazy standard. That’s gonna be a long wait.

    If Democracy breaks out in the middle east we will lose influence because we can’t explain our toleration of tyrannical regimes in that area for the last 70 years or so.

  82. 82.

    Jamie

    March 15, 2011 at 5:39 pm

    what’s the old Crack, war is God’s way of teaching Americans geography

  83. 83.

    Mike (Hammer) Kay

    March 15, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    @srv: I haven’t seen Pat since 2006. Which is why I asked what his site is like (here). He seemed like a good guy when he opposed the invasion of Iraq and Iran.

  84. 84.

    HyperIon

    March 15, 2011 at 5:42 pm

    @stuckinred:

    Buncha people over at Pat Lang’s joynt want us in Libya now!

    Pat Lang is one strange blogger. My favorite moment (when I still visited the site) was when Cleek or Montysano (or somebody whose handle escapes me) stated that confederates were traitors. PL was outraged. Yet another douchebag Virginian with an “our university was the creation of Thomas Jefferson so all must bow down” attitude. He probably knows stuff but is insufferable.

  85. 85.

    Maude

    March 15, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    There was a crackdown in Bahrain today. The King of Bahrain asked for Saudi help. Iraq has a Shia Prime Minister, also. Too.

  86. 86.

    soonergrunt

    March 15, 2011 at 5:47 pm

    @Mike (Hammer) Kay: NASA vacation plan–a 71 second flight to Bahamas.

  87. 87.

    soonergrunt

    March 15, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    @Rock: No. It only works for caring for our citizens.
    We have special credit cards for invading other countries, powered by pixie dust.

  88. 88.

    srv

    March 15, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    @HyperIon: The War of Northern Agression is strong there.

  89. 89.

    soonergrunt

    March 15, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    @Zifnab: They used Canadian built Light Armored Vehicles and pickups built in Indonesia for this little op. At least, that’s what they used in the footage I saw.
    Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles are a little expensive for that stuff.

  90. 90.

    Pococurante

    March 15, 2011 at 5:58 pm

    @Jamie:

    If Democracy breaks out in the middle east we will lose influence because we can’t explain our toleration of tyrannical regimes in that area for the last 70 years or so.

    Heck we can’t even explain Michigan.

  91. 91.

    liberal

    March 15, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    @Brachiator:

    If Saudi Arabia and Israel openly worked together to blunt supposed Iranian designs in the the region, this would be the greatest foreign policy breakthrough in decades.

    Maybe it’s not open, but I always assumed they have somewhat aligned interests.

    But no matter how you slice it, the best thing is that the Obama Administration, so far, is not taking the bait to intervene in current rumblings in this part of the Middle East…

    Agreed.

    …since it is unclear as to who is playing who, and who might emerge from the turmoil as a leader or power broker. Only someone as foolish as Palin or grandpa McCain would want to jump into this mess.

    Never mind jumping into the Middle East…I thought there was a good chance gramps was gonna get us involved in Georgia, where the other guys have nukes.

  92. 92.

    noodler

    March 15, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    Freedom watch? Oy, with an article like that, thought the jump would take me to world net daily.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. "Saudi-Led Troops Sent to Crush Bahrain Protests [Zahir shamsery]" and related posts | ItsStillAmerica.com says:
    March 16, 2011 at 6:00 am

    […] Because We Didn’t Invade Iran, Saudia Arabia Was Forced to Invade Bahrain – Balloon Juice […]

  2. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Sends Troops to Support Bahrain’s King | Political Job Approval Ratings & Public Opinion Polls by YOU! says:
    March 16, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    […] Because We Didn’t Invade Iran, Saudia Arabia Was Forced to Invade Bahrain (balloon-juice.com) […]

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • OzarkHillbilly on COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: April 17, 2024 (Apr 17, 2024 @ 7:32am)
  • Timill on Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Fading Neom Dreams (Apr 17, 2024 @ 7:31am)
  • Geminid on Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Fading Neom Dreams (Apr 17, 2024 @ 7:31am)
  • Princess on COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: April 17, 2024 (Apr 17, 2024 @ 7:27am)
  • Geminid on Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Fading Neom Dreams (Apr 17, 2024 @ 7:24am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!